4K consumer displays are now under $200,000,4K optical format might appear in 8 years

[HDTV1080P]

4K front projector displays are now available for the consumer for under $200,000. Over several years the prices will fall and most likely in less than 10 years 4K displays should be under $20,000 and one day under $10,000. Also in 8-10 years from now a 4K consumer optical format will most likely be released to attempt to replace the BLU-RAY format. Perhaps it will be an improved multi-layer 400GB Super BLU-RAY disc that offers 4K instead of an entire new holographic format. What every happens everyone that wants to move to 4K quality will need new equipment. At the very minimum we are at least 5 years from low cost 4K displays to appear and most likely at least 8 years before a 4K optical format starts appearing.

This is an interesting read from the Sound and Vision website

"In the early days of HDTV, everyone thought 1080p video displays were some futuristic dream that might not happen until decades into the 21st century. But here we are, just 10 years after HDTV broadcasting began, and 1080p seems like yesterday's technology. The buzzword now is 4K, which refers to a display resolving roughly 4,000 pixels horizontally and 2,000 pixels vertically. Today's 1080p TVs are considered 2K devices, resolving 1,920 pixels across and 1,080 pixels down -- a mere quarter of the resolution 4K offers.
Video sources with 4K resolution exist only in professional video facilities and digital cinemas. But you don't need a 4K video source to enjoy its benefits. Because the pixel density of a 4K display is so much greater than that of a 2K display, it allows even 100-inch pictures to be shown without visible pixels.
Meridian made a splash last August when it introduced the 810 Reference Video Projector, a $185,000 4K home theater model based on a commercial projector design from JVC. On the 14-foot Stewart screen that Meridian used, it was impossible to see individual pixels even with your eyes just a few inches from the screen.
Of course, few people other than Bill Gates and 50 Cent have the space for a 14-foot screen. Whether or not 4K delivers a real benefit with smaller screens remains debatable. Bill Whalen, director of product development for the Hitachi Home Electronics Consumer Group, is bullish. "Certainly in the 46- or 47-inch range and above -- I think that's where the consumer will recognize the benefit of 4K," he says. "You can sit closer to the set, or get a larger set, without seeing the pixels."
But 4K doesn't necessarily look better than 2K, says Bob Perry, senior vice president of Panasonic's Display Group. "Mapping 1080p content to a 1080p display delivers amazing picture quality, but if you start mapping to higher-resolution displays, you might have the opposite result. Cer- tainly it makes an improvement in very large screen sizes -- say, 100 inches or more. But that's about making a display that doesn't have visible grain [pixels]." So then why would anyone want to own, say, a 60-inch 4K LCD TV? "It'll give them something to boast about."
So, is 4K going to become a living-room reality in 2009? "I think you'll probably see prototypes of 4K flat-panel TVs, maybe at the Consumer Electronics Show [in January], maybe later in the year," said Paul Meyhoefer, vice president of marketing and product planning for Pioneer. "But is it something for the consumer in 2009? I don't think so."

http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/hdt...unchained.html